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Chief Justice Anwar Usman giving a general lecture to the Law Faculty of Gorontalo University on Friday (1/3) in the Auditorium of Gorontalo University. Photo by Humas MK/Dedy.

Chief Justice Anwar Usman gave a general lecture to the Law Faculty of Gorontalo University on “Guarding the 2019 Simultaneous Elections within State Constitution” in the Auditorium of Gorontalo University on Friday (1/3/2019).

The chief justice explained the authorities of the Constitutional Court, which are stipulated in Article 24C paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution. The Court hears at the first and last levels, and its decision is final. The authorities of the Court are examining laws against the 1945 Constitution, deciding on authority dispute of state institutions, deciding on the dissolution of political parties, and deciding on disputes over election results. The Court also has one obligation, to decide on the House’s opinion on the alleged violation committed by the president and/or vice president.

He also mentioned the significant difference between the 2014 Elections and the 2019 Simultaneous Elections, on the addition of electoral districts (dapil) and House seats. Seeing the number of seats contested and the number of contesting political parties, the democracy of Indonesia cannot be said to be small and simple. The country can be categorized into a major country with a complex electoral system.

“The process of the elections that we [will] hold is a logical consequence of the democratic system adopted by our Constitution. The same applies to other countries that adopt the same system. Today in all countries in the world, democracy is a system that is inevitable,” he explained.

Justice Anwar also said that in order to realize elections with integrity, it is not easy. Democratic anomalies are common, not only in Indonesia. Therefore, in order to guide the democratic process and to achieve the expected electoral results, cooperation and synergy of all state organs are needed among the General Elections Commission (KPU), the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP), the Police, the Prosecution Office, the courts, the Constitutional Court, and other state institutions, as well as the academia and students who shall always educate the public about the importance of integrity of the elections.

“All those elements must form synergy to make elections a success, in order to maintain the people’s sovereignty. Not less important is for us to always remind elections contestants to understand that a mandate of the future office to hold as people’s leaders must be seen as a position to account for, not only in the world, but also in the afterlife,” he asserted.

Lastly, he reminded the participants that he had high hopes that in the simultaneous elections, they could participate in supervising all stages of the elections, so that honesty, fairness, and transparency can be maintained.

Cooperation with Universities

Secretary General M. Guntur Hamzah in his report said that the Constitutional Court viewed cooperation with universities as a need. The role of the Constitutional Court is inseparable from that of universities. Without them, the Court will not be able to perform its duties and constitutional authorities optimally.

“One of the commitments of the Constitutional Court is to contribute in improving the quality of universities, especially in the field of law. The higher the quality of universities in the field of law, the more qualified their graduates. Then, our nation and state’s ideals and objectives can be realized,” he said. (ddy/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)

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